Making my closet divider labels
A good weekend for me is one that allows for some putzing time in my closet. I’m forever thinking up ways to make getting dressed easy and effortless and to be wisely using the investments I’ve made in clothes and accessories. I can achieve both of these objectives if I have a well-edited closet (what’s in there is wearable, usable, and desirable by me) and I can easily grab for things and create new looks for myself on a regular basis.
I’ve been organizing my closet (and many of my clients’ closets) by color, forever! Every single item that is white – whether it’s a top, sweater, jacket, skirt, pant or dress – is grouped together. Next comes taupe: Everything in shades of taupe are grouped together. It goes on like that from light to dark, left to right. I can give you a million reasons why this is a great system. Mostly, it’s just so pretty to open your closet and see those colors grouped together like crayons in a freshly opened box of Crayolas. It’s easy to keep a closet looking neat and tidy because all the red things go in the red department; all the blue things go in the blue department. Simple!
I don’t display the clothes in my closet like stores display their merchandise: by item. When you’re shopping you might view a whole rack of dresses at one time or a whole rack of pants. That’s often how people display the clothes in their closet. Maybe you do this too. All the pants are together, all the jackets are together, all the blouses are together and so on. That’s not me. It hasn’t been me for decades. I never saw a reason to change a thing…until this weekend.
I got to thinking about how I wear my clothes and have decided to try a hybrid system of closet organization. I am storing my jeans and leggings in a Milano hanging shoe container (see above). To the right of that hanging shelf, I’ve created a section for my pants which I have hanging individually over those non-slip hangers. To the right of the pants is a section for tunics which I wear with my leggings or jeans. So those items that I tend to wear together are hanging closest together.
Closet dividers for color groups
Next comes my tried-and-true division by color: white, taupe/gray, yellow/gold, fuschia/berry, green/brown, blue, black. These are my main wardrobe colors so all the tops, sweaters, and cardigans get filed by color and hung together. Then over on the far end of my closet to the right of the black section is my section of skirts and dresses. Most wardrobes require at least three times more tops than bottoms so my bottoms take far less space. Having them separated (pants at one end, skirts and dresses at the other end) makes it easier for me to think about creating outfits. Do I feel like wearing pants or skirts today? Maybe a dress? I know just wear to look once I’ve made that decision.
Then I’ll look for the tops or jackets I want to wear and build the outfit from there. Having organized it this way, I’m noticing how few summer dresses I own. It’s a great time to look for a couple more as they’re already on sale in most stores.
So that’s my fun new experiment. And of course spending time moving things around allows me to discover a few things I haven’t worn recently. I want to wear one of those items tomorrow! A closet review is such a great investment of time.
I know everyone’s busy, but do you think you might have time this weekend to see what’s in your closet? And maybe even hang things a little differently so you get reacquainted with what you own?
How are you currently viewing your summer selections? Do you have a system that works? Please share!